Finally, a game where I can get some practice in before the twelve year olds get really good and taunt me from all over the world.

Figure 1 - Time to bring down some servers!

About a week back I received an email from the PlayStation Network asking me to fill out a brief survey, thereby registering me for possible selection for the upcoming MAG private beta test. Here we are, a week later, and I’ve been selected as one of the lucky few (figure 1), beta code sitting in my inbox.  This will be my second beta test on the PlayStation 3, with the first being PlayStation Home.  Let’s hope MAG is a little more worth my time.

If you’re not familiar with MAG, it stands for “Massive Action Game”–major fail in the title department–and is an online shooter designed with a unique server architecture allowing it to support online battles of up to 256 players at once.  Shooters usually fall stale with me as they feel like the same thing over and over, but I am excited to see if MAG can accomplish this feat of scale that we haven’t yet seen in console gaming.  The game supposedly also divides players into 8-player squads, with four squads forming a platoon, and four platoons forming a company.  MAG is scheduled to be released in January 2010.

Click after the break for proof screenshots of the invite and ensuing download.

Figure 2 - Congratulations, you've been selected to have your ass handed to you.

Figure 3 - 4.75MB closer to annihilation